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Invasion of Belarus
.]] The Invasion of Belarus, also known as the Conquest of Belarus, the Patriotic War (in Belarus) and the Belarus Campaign (in Russia), was an invasion of Belarus by Russia, and one of the pre-World War III events. The invasion began on 2 December 2014, under the order of Russian Leader Igor Maximov and was led by Mokhov Viktorovich, the General of the Maxim's Military. The defence of Belarus was led by Jan Abecedarski, the President of Belarus and Dzmytar Borushko, the Chief of the Armed Forces of Belarus. Background On 23 May 2014, Igor Maximov, a Russian revolutionist, stormed the Moscow Kremlin with the Russian Militia, the Russian Paramilitary, the Russian Defence Council, the Russian Revolutionist Army, the Russian Security Forces, the Russian Defence Forces and the Russian Volunteers. Through radio, Maxim declared the Democratic Federal Union of Russia (DFUR), claiming he wanted a "democratic, free Russia". Ironically, however, Maximov's initial days of rule were marked by several drastic changes, and his style of rule was shown to be extremely authoritarian, anti-democratic and totalitarian, which forced him to change the revert the name of the country to the Federal State of the Russia (FSR), or simply just Russia. Maximov's authoritarian rule was also expressed in the fact that he proclaimed himself as the Despot, a form of government in which absolute power is exercised, mostly in a tyrannic and oppressive way. Most countries opposed Maximov's rule, though no serious reaction was at first given by any major country. Dzmytar Borushko, the President of Belarus, opposed Maximov, and set up a small battalion of 500 troops near the Russian border for patrol. In retaliation, Maximov created several military organizations, including the Border Watch, the City Watch, the Russian Youth, the Russian People's Army and the Russian Special Police Forces, all of which, with the exception of the City Watch, were sent along the border with Belarus in relatively larger numbers. Borushko, fearing war, attempted to resolve the dispute democratically, but failed and was denied access to Moscow. No stable communication existed between Belarus and Russia, and Maximov drew criticism from several European leaders. Maximov, continuing his "Revolution of Russia", renamed the military forces to Maxim's Military, and renamed the Kremlin to "Castle Maximov", drawing major criticism from multiple political parties and leaders. Maximov then renamed Moscow to "Maximovgrad". Generally, the Russian people were afraid of Maximov, due to his large number of military organizations, as well as the rumor that he had ties to several foreign military and drug organizations. Borushko, desperate to avoid war, attempted to once again contact Maxim, and was successful in agreeing a meeting. However, Maximov ultimately postponed the scheduled meeting to 14 November 2014. Soon enough, he delayed the meeting until 27 November, and Borushko, fearing that Maximov was preparing to invade Belarus, ultimately cancelled the meeting altogether. Campaign Phase 1: 2 December 2014–16 June 2015, first months of the war A total of 50,000 Russian troops entered Belarus in the initial invasion, while Belarus fielded 90,000 soldiers, along with 60,000 armed civilians. After a short skirmish near the border, reinforcements arrived for Russia, with a total of 30,000 troops and 3,000 armed civilians. The Russian military besieged Polatsk, Vitsyebks, Orsha, Mahilyow and Homyel, and captured all five. Afterwards, the military armed themselves around the Dnieper River and reinforcements arrived with over 100,000 troops, and began their march on the capital city Minsk, Mazyr and Babruysk. The military of Belarus was unable to acquire reinforcements, as they were not a member of NATO, the European Union or the European Council. However, after several months of fighting, Ukraine and Lithuania began supplying the military with weapons, vehicles and volunteers. After five months of war, the military achieved their first ever triumph, in the crucial battle of Barysaw, delaying the battle of Minsk. In the battle of Salihorsk, the military once again was able to triumph over the Russians, further delaying the Russian advancement towards Minsk. In the battle of Molodechno, despite losing, the military was able to reduce the morale and size of the Russian army, and in the battle of Osipovichi, they gained a significant advantage point over the Russians, setting up a military outpost that setup communications with Minsk, warning the troops in the capital city of an incoming attack. Phase 2: 16 June 2015–9 February 2016, fall of Minsk and end of the war , the capital of Belarus.]] On 16 June 2015, the Russian military besieged Minsk, suffering significant casualties, and on 28 July, temporarily agreed a truce with the defenders of the city. The truce would last a total of two months, and on 29 September, the army restarted the besieging. However, in that time, the defenders were able to reinforce the city with food, resources and volunteers. In the city, the main Chief of Defence was Prokip Starčanka, who ultimately died in battle. On 6 November, the Russians finally entered the city after after completely surrounding it, but were met with resistance from the defenders. However, on 4 December 2015, the defenders formally surrendered to the Russian troops. The number of casualties in Minsk was confirmed to be a total of 3,012 dead, 5,168 wounded and 1,102 missing, with the Russians suffering larger casualties than the defenders. After the fall of Minsk, the military of Belarus retreated to the cities of Hrodna, Baranavichy, Pinsk and Brest. Despite being outnumbered, the military were able to triumph in both the battle of Hrodna and the battle of Pinsk, but ultimately suffered a crushing defeat at the battle of Baranavichy. The military set up outposts near the Niemen River and Pripyat River. However, construction of the Pripyat River outpost was abandoned due to the close proximity to Chernobyl, a city that was still affected with nuclear radiation following the Chernobyl nuclear reactor disaster in 1986. The outposts, unfortunately, proved rather insignificant as the Russian military continued its march onto Brest, the last remaining city that was still of importance to Belarus, as the cities of Pinsk and Hrodna were completely ransacked with regular artillery attacks, mortar blasts, projectiles and shells. Brest ultimately surrendered after three days, as the military "saw no point in fighting what was already lost". The war officially came to an end on the 9 February 2016. Aftermath Casualties It has been reported that a total of 9,612 Belarusian soldiers and civilians died, 33,027 were wounded or injured, 8,004 are missing or disappeared and 906 died of starvation, disease and the extreme weather conditions. The number of Russian casualties has not been actually reported; however, documents suggest that a total of 17,131 Russian troops died, 26,035 were wounded or injured, 12,501 are missing or disappeared and 1,004 died of starvation, disease and the extreme weather conditions. In total, 10,518 died, 33,027 were wounded or injured and 8,004 are missing or disappeared on Belarus's side, while 18,135 died, 26,035 were wounded or injured and 12,501 are missing or disappeared on Russia's side. In total, 28,653 died, 59,062 were wounded or injured and 20,505 are missing or disappeared. International reaction The European Union was notified of the fall of Minsk by the Russian military themselves, who, according to the the Bundestag were attempting to state a show of strength. Soon after, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) strengthened their relations with Finland, who was not a member, fearing that Russia may turn their attention towards invading Finland, and possibly Norway, who is a member of the organization. Thus, Finland applied to become a member of NATO, and its membership was considered and began taking ratification just weeks after they applied. NATO sent troops to Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, and also Georgia, who is a considered an aspiring member of the organization. The Russian Leader Igor Maximov, however, viewed this as a provocation, and in retaliation sent troops to the Kaliningrad Oblast, which borders Lithuania and Poland, as well as to the regions of Karelia and Murmansk, which border Finland. Along with this, he sent a total of 16 brigades and 4 regiments, approximately 100,000 troops in total. However, NATO and Russia resolved the dispute by signing the Tallinn Settlement, agreeing to reduce the troop sizes by seventy-five percent. Nearly two weeks following the end of the invasion, on 21 February 2016, Maximov announced "total annexation" of Belarus, however, he stated that the country will retain their autonomy, and would still have their own currency, trade, foreign policy, security, defence, police, economy, health, education, internal administration, mail and traffic, but Russia would control the military, foreign affairs and finance. War crimes No reports of major war crimes were suggested, though several eyewitnesses made claims that the Russian troops used a large number of their artillery on bombing irrelevant villages and smaller towns, even going as far as destroying several villages due to no apparent reason. Russia received criticism for this, and Maximov himself criticized his troops for the bombings of the villages, stating that "I can't hail the bombings of these villages as a triumph, as the army in Belarus is using our powerful artillery for useless and insignificant reasons." Several extremist Russian soldiers were filmed killing a small number of civilians in the villages surrounding Minsk. However, both Maximov and Viktorovich denied that this ever occurred and sentenced the recorders of these videos to displacement or execution. After the fall of Minsk, the population of the city was temporarily allowed to continue living in the city, but suffered frequent mortar blast and artillery shells when attempting to exit their houses. Despite the fall of Minsk, the remaining Belarusian paramilitary and police resisted the Russian advancement, but their hideout was destroyed with frequent aircraft attacks. See Also * Invasion of Ukraine * Invasion of Estonia * Pre-World War III events * Battle of Minsk Category:Battles